Watching George St-Pierre (MMA legend) popping shark cartilage pills was the first time I obsessed over glucosamine. His analogy when he brought up shark cartilage was that your body is like a car. Athletes like him treat their bodies like Ferraris meaning they need premium fuel. After hearing this I thought man, I’m at least a ford mustang, why haven’t I used this savage supplement before? I wouldn’t be surprised if you found glucosamine in a convenience store nowadays although it may not be from a shark.

Pain is described by many as a hurtful experience related to tissue damage, but stopping at that would only explain a small aspect of this complex experience. Rather, it is better to think of pain as the ultimate output. It scrutinizes multiple inputs including but not limited to hurt/damage. We now understand that emotional state, memories of past experiences, context, body location, and cultural beliefs are also relevant inputs. The combination of these inputs is often required to create something deemed as pain and it is explained best by Melzack’s Neuromatrix Theory of Pain. His theory describes pain as being comprised of three domains.

As I type this article, I become conscious of how I position my wrists due to the topic at hand (pun definitely intended). Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is relevant to anyone who uses a keyboard a lot, plays a musical instrument, or uses small tools on a daily basis repeatedly. Around 10% of people are either dealing with some form of CTS or are in the process of developing it in North America.

Let’s face it, many of us suffer from shin splints and have no idea what to do with it. Running is perfectly fine until a dull shin pain slowly creeps in on us and boom, it’s here to stay until further notice. Whether you consult a fitness trainer or search online for treatment options you will often be told to rest when symptoms are bad, and you should. My problem with rest is it doesn’t address the cause of injury.

When observing an object, you can somewhat judge what its function is by analyzing certain features and characteristics about it. A table has four stationary legs with a flat top which suggests that it is meant to stay in place to support its top while allowing for room underneath. In a sense, we have somewhat described the essence of a table. To describe the essence of a human on the other hand is extremely difficult and is usually met with numerous opinions. But let’s try and describe a human the same way we just did with the table. A human is a living, organic mass with moveable limbs connected to joints that allow movement in many directions via muscular contractions. Based on this description, your essence is to move. However, we don’t realize this until we stop moving.